Mexico: PRI strikes back

Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador responds to questions during a press conference in Mexico City on July 9, 2012.

The party of the apparent winner of Mexico’s contested July 1 presidential election has been dogged by mounds of fraud accusations — first that it bought votes and then that it used laundered money to win.

But now, the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, is hitting back. Party officials this week have accused second-place candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of taking funds from “hidden financial network” for his campaign, CNN Mexico reports.

Allegations have flown in many directions in the wake of the Mexican elections. But Lopez Obrador (aka “AMLO,” his initials) has usually been the more vociferous accuser. He challenged the election results, alleging that illegal vote buying gave Enrique Peña Nieto an unfair victory. Then he added salt to injury, claiming those votes were bought with laundered money. AMLO will now have explaining to do.

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